AN INVESTIGATION has been launched into how a worker on the site of the new £16m Regent Circus leisure complex suffered leg injuries in an industrial accident late on Thursday evening.

A panel fell on the man, who is in his 40s, trapping him at 9.45pm.

Firefighters freed him and paramedics checked him over at the scene before taking him to Great Western Hospital.

The leisure complex in the town centre , being developed by ISG Construction, is expected to be opened in the autumn and the full circumstances of why the panel fell on the man and whether it will delay work on the site are still unknown.

An ISG spokesperson said: “We can confirm that an incident took place at our Swindon site yesterday, which resulted in a member of the project team being taken to hospital with leg injuries.

“At this stage, we cannot provide any more detailed information.

“However, the company has launched an immediate and thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident and the Health And Safety Executive is being notified.”

HSE is required to be informed of incidents such as this within two days of them happening.

A South West Ambulance Service spokesman said that the man’s injuries were not life-threatening.

He said: “We were called to a construction site near the former college site at around 9.45pm.

“The casualty, a man in his 40s, had a panel fall on his lower leg on the first floor of the site.

“He sustained minor injuries and was taken to Great Western Hospital by ambulance.”

This is not the first time problems have struck the complex’s construction as, in March, work on the site caused a hole to open up in Cross Street and some residents experienced subsidence.

In February, the congregation of Rehoboth Strict Baptist Chapel were forced to vacate their building after large cracks began to appear in the walls, caused by work on the site.

The developers have regularly been meeting with residents to discuss any problems they have encountered while the building work has been ongoing.

When the Regent Circus complex is completed it will include a Morrisons supermarket, a six- screen Cineworld and eight restaurants with tenants including Ask, Coal, Prezzo, and Nandos.